Coil spring set extension attachment



Feb. 18, 1969 L. A. ROWE COIL SPRING SET EXTENSION ATTACHMENT Filed Aug. 30, 1967 INVENTOR LACY A. Rowe:

ALLA me. Q

ATTORNEY-S United States Patent 8 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An L-shaped spring attachment platform having 'a first leg attached to the forward edge of a rectangular coil spring set and a descending spring attached to its second leg and connected to a supporting frame to provide a lateral extension of the forward edge of the spring set.

Background of the invention This invention relates to the field of furniture manufacture and, more specifically, relates to an attachment for coil spring sets used in chairs or the like for converting a rectangular spring set to a T-shaped or L-shaped configuration.

Furniture manufacturers must, of necessity, provide a large number of diflerent designs in order to meet with the differing desires of the public. For example, many chairs are provided with conventional rectangular or square spring sets while other designs necessitate the use of T-shaped, L-shaped or other differently conflured spring sets. Heretofore, it has been necessary to provide a separate spring set of the desired outer configuration for each design being manufactured. Consequently, furniture manufacturers who manufacture a variety of designs must maintain a supply of different spring sets in order to maintain production of their various furniture models and inherent expenses, such as inventory, storage and labor costs, 'are therefore accrued.

Great savings would be enabled if means were provided to enable the use of a primary or basic spring set which could be modified for various furniture designs so as to eliminate the need for a large inventory of different spring set designs. This invention is directed to means enabling such a result.

Summary of the invention This invention comprises a unitary metal attachment consisting of an L-shaped extension which has one leg of the L attached to the forward edge of a rectangular spring set. The second leg of the L extends rearwardly in coplanar relationship to the top of the spring set and a flexible spring consisting of descending flights extends downwardly from the end of the second leg for connection to the supporting frame of the spring set. The last-mentioned leg is also connected to the side edge of the frame set by a wire connector element so that the attachment provides a lateral extension of the front edge of the spring set. In a modified version of the invention, the portions of the attachment forming the forward corner are curved so as to provide a curved corner construction.

It is, therefore, a primary object of this invention to provide a new and improved spring attachment means.

Another object of this invention is the provision of an attachment for converting rectangular spring sets to T- shaped spring sets.

Another object of this invention is the provision of a new and improved attachment for use with conventional rectangular spring sets for providing a lateral extension of such spring sets along one edge of such spring sets.

Description of the drawings FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a chair employing the present invention with portions of the interior construction being illustrated with dashed lines;

FIGURE 2 is a cutaway perspective view of a corner of the chair illustrated in FIGURE 1; and

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view of a modified form of the device illustrated in FIGURES 1 and 2.

Description of the preferred embodiments FIGURE 1 illustrates the preferred embodiment of the invention incorporated in a chair 20 which has a T- shaped cushion 22. Chair 20 is provided with a conventional wooden supporting frame 24 which supports a conventional rectangular or square spring set 26.

Spring set 26 comprises a plurality of coil springs 28 which are mutually connected by connector clamps 30 and are retained in rectangular or square orientation by a coil retaining wire frame member 32 connected to their upper ends. While only one corner of the coil retaining wire frame member 32 is illustrated in FIGURES 2 and 3, it should be appreciated that the frame member is either rectangular or square in shape.

Spring set 26 is of rectangular or square configuration and obviously cannot provide complete spring support for the T-shaped cushion 22. This invention provides an attachment which is connectable to the conventional spring set 26 to provide a resultant spring of T-shaped configuration so that spring platform support can be provided the lateral extensions 23 on each side of the front edge of cushion 22.

The attachment comprises a L-shaped platform support extension member 34 (FIG. 2) having a first elongated leg 36 and a second or lateral leg 38. Legs 36 and 38 are oriented perpendicularly to each other :and the first leg 36 comprises an elongated linear attaching portion which is attached to the front or forward side or edge F of frame member 32 by means of plural clamps 40. Legs 36 and 38 are oriented in a common plane with the plane of the coil retaining wire frame member 32 as illustrated in FIGURE 2 of the drawing.

The rear end of leg 38 has an inwardly extending leg 42 extending inwardly as shown in FIGURE 2. Leg 38 parallel to the side edge or portion S of frame 32 and is perpendicular to the front edge or portion F of frame 32. Leg 38 can be considered to comprise a lateral edge portion of the resultant spring combination as is evident from FIGURE 2 of the drawings. A descending spring means 44 is connected by inwardly extending leg 42 to leg 38 and descends downwardly from the lateral edge or leg portion 38 and comprises a plurality of connected flights A, B, C and D. Spring 44 terminates in a horizontal base portion 46 which is connected to frame 24 by a plurality of connectors such as staples 48. A wire connector or tie 50 extends horizontally between leg 42 and the side portion 8 of frame 32 and is attached on each end to leg 42 and descends downwardly from the lateral edge or leg horizontal position.

It should be noted that flight A is generally oriented in a common vertical plane with leg 42; flight B is generally oriented in a common plane with the second leg or lateral edge portion 38; and flights C and D are generally oriented in a common vertical plane with the first leg or linear attaching portion 36 of the L-shaped extension member 34. Base portion 46 is also generally oriented in a common plane with the flight B and leg 38.

It will, therefore, be seen that the unitary attachment member provides a resultant lateral extension of the conventional spring set 26. A similar attachment member is located on the other side of the front edge of the spring set as shown in FIGURE 1 so that a resultant T-shaped cushion spring set is provided for cushion 22. Of course,

it should be understood that it is not necessary to employ two of the attachment members in all instances since it may be desired in some cases to merely provide an L- shaped Spring set rather than a T-shaped spring set. It should also be noted that the position in which the attachment member is clamped to the front edge F can be varied to provide lateral extensions of varying dimensions. The dimensions of the various components of the attachment can also be varied for providing springs of varying dimensions.

FIGURE 3 illustrates a second embodiment of the invention which comprises a modification of the first embodiment. The modification provides a resultant spring set having a curved corner construction.

Elements of the second embodiment corresponding to elements of the first embodiment are designated by prime numerals identical with the numerals applied to corresponding parts of the first embodiment. A first leg 36' and a second leg 38 are connected by a curved portion 52 as shown in FIGURE 3. A flight B and a base portion 46' are curved to be in substantial alignment with the curved portion 52 as illustrated in the drawing. The resultant spring set construction therefore has a curved front corner construction.

It should be noted that the embodiment of FIGURE 3 is used in the same identical manner as is the first-discussed embodiment.

While only preferred embodiments have been illustrated, it should be clearly understood that other modifications not departing from the spirit and scope of this invention will occur to those skilled in the art.

What is claimed is:

1. A spring platform attachment for use with a coil spring set of generally rectangular configuration carried by a supporting frame, said coil spring set being defined by an upper generally rectangular coil retaining wire frame member enclosing and retaining a plurality of coil springs, said platform attachment enabling the provision of a lateral extension platform beyond a first edge of the coil spring set and said platform attachment comprising a unitary member having an elongated linear attaching leg portion fixedly attached to said first edge of said wire frame member in adjacent parallel relation to said first edge and extending from a corner of said wire frame member defined by the intersection of said first edge with a second edge of said wire frame member, a lateral edge portion extending from the outer end of said attaching portion parallel to said second edge of said wire frame member, tie means connecting said lateral edge portion to said second edge of said wire frame member and an integral descending spring means extending downwardly from said lateral edge portion for connection to said supporting frame.

2. The device of claim 1 wherein said descending spring means consists of a plurality of connected flights.

3. The device of claim 2 wherein said descending spring means has a horizontal base portion connected for support by said supporting frame.

4. The device of claim 1 wherein said elongated linear attaching portion and said lateral edge portion are connected by a curved connecting portion and said descending spring means includes similarly curved portions to provide a rounded corner construction.

5. The device of claim 1 additionally including an inwardly extending leg on the end of said lateral edge portion opposite to said attaching portion wherein said descending spring means consists of a plurality of connected flights angled with respect to each other.

6. The device of claim 1 wherein said means connecting said lateral edge portion to said second edge of said wire frame member comprises a wire connector tie. 7. An attachment for use with a coil spring set supported by a supporting frame having a generally square corner with front and side edges defined by an upper coil retaining wire frame member oriented in a horizontal plane and enclosing and retaining a plurality of coil springs, said attachment enabling a lateral extension of the forward edge of said coil spring set, said attachment comprising a platform support extension member having an L-shaped configuration with one leg of the L-shaped extension member attached to said front edge of said corner to extend parallel to said front edge to position the second leg of the L-shaped member in co-planar and parallel spaced relation with said second edge of said corner and means connecting said second leg of said L- shaped member to said second edge of said corner and integral descending spring means extending downwardly from said second leg of said L-shaped member for connection to said supporting frame.

8. The device of claim 7 wherein the legs of said L- shaped member are connected by a curved element to provide a rounded corner construction.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,245,051 6/1941 Reed 26797 2,285,827 6/1942 Neely 267102 2,596,196 5/1952 Asaro 26797 ARTHUR A. LA POINT, Primary Examiner. 

